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(NoModeL) P. S. LEE 8: J. D. HORTON.

' GAR COUPLING. No. 305,085. Patented Sept. 16, 1884.

' ilc'fnew ea UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK S. LEE AND JOSEPH D. HORTON, OF SYRACUSE, NEBRASKA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 305,085, datedSeptember 16, 1884.

Application filed June 2, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, FRANK S. LEE and JOSEPH D. HORTON, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Syracuse, in the county of Otoe and State ofNebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplers; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to car-couplers; and it consists in the novelconstruction and arrangement of its parts.

Figure l is a perspective View of the same attached to a railway-coach.Fig. 2 isan enlarged view of the levers Z 'Z, rods 9 g having flexiblejoint g. Fig. 3 is a top sectional view of the coupler. Fig. 4 is avertical sectional view cut through Fig. 3 at line 00 m. Fig. 5 is aview of the shape of the draw-head when to be used on high platforms;Fig. 6, the shape when to be used on medium-height platforms, and Fig. 7when the platform is higher.

Our car-coupler is described as follows: Our draw-heads a a have thegeneral shape of ordinary draw-heads, being large at the mouth toreceive the draw-hooks; but the mouth 0 0, while extending from d to (Z,Fig. 4, up and down, only extends half-way across the head from 1 to 2,Fig. 3. The other halves have a hook, ff, in each, securely bolted inthe same. These hooks f and f have a limited lateral movement, and areheld in their normal posi tion by lateral springs f f In each one ofthese draw-heads a a, and in mouths c c, are

pivoted rods 9 g, which have ontheir'lower h 71. can be operated fromthe top of the coach.

These rods have flexible joints 9 9, so that their upper ends can be runon either side of the footway on the top of the coaches, and thus allowthe brakeman to pass from one coach to the other without these rodsbeing in his way. It also has a. ratchet-wheel and dog, 9', to hold itfrom turning when it is deemed neces sary to be held unlocked. Thelevers Z t are held in position crosswise the draw-heads by spiralsprings k, which hold the keys h h in the position seen in Figs. 3 andet-that is, in the seats Z Z of the hooks ff. The lower end of thisspiral spring is secured to the drawheads a, and the upper end to leversspiral springs 70 k may be placed on the inside of the draw-heads in thebottom of key-seat Z, in which case they are compression-springs.

The coupler is self coupling. When the coaches run together, the hooksff enter their respective mouths c c and press back the keys h h, and,when the draw hooks are driven home, the keys h h, by means ofthe-springs k k and the levers i Z, are thrown into seats Z Z of thedraw-hooks ff. When we wish to uncouple the same, we pull upon eitherlever it. This throws the keys h h out of seat Z and into their bed Z Z,and the draw-heads are easily withdrawn; or, if we are on the top of thecoach, we turn the wheelg, which has the same effect. By turning eitherwheel 9 or pulling on either lever 1; we throw both keys back into bedsZ Z, for, as will be seen, the levers Z t impinge against each other.

Among the many other advantages claimed for our coupler we claim that itcouples coaches of different heights. The draw-heads may be made deep asthe whole length of the keys h h, and they-may bemade as long as desiredfor this purpose, in which case the keys h and levers Z should be madecorrespondingly deep.

As the hooksf f canplay up and down the whole length of the keys h, itwill be seen that our coupler will couple coaches as different in heightas the draw-heads are deep.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of draw-heads a, draw- These hooks f f, keys h, rods7, bearing-wheel g, In testimony whereof we affix our signatures andratchet g levers 6, having handlesj, and in presence of two witnesses.spiral springs in, all when arranged substantially as shown anddescribed, and for the pur- FRANK S. LEE. 5 poses set forth. JOSEPH D.HORTON.

2. Rods g g, pivoted in said draw-heads a, having flexible joints 9 andbearing 011 their Vitnesses; upper ends wheel 9 and ratchet g and onEDWIN J MURFIN, their lower ends key h, substantially as shown Trros. B.STEVENSON. IO and described, and for the purposes set forth.

